


Rebirth

by warrior_of_wisdom



Series: Castle Town Coffee Shop [23]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cemetery, Coma, Emotional Baggage, Fame, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hospitals, Kinda, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Male-Female Friendship, Moving Out, Weddings, at the very end at least, beginning of the school year, the final part!, they're moving to a new house, this is it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28345053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warrior_of_wisdom/pseuds/warrior_of_wisdom
Summary: Two months after the Battle of Lurelin, the heroes are still healing. They've moved on from their pain, but it's still going to take them time to recover.It's a good thing that they have each other, at the very least.
Relationships: Blue Link & Green Link & Red Link, Hyrule & Legend (Linked Universe), Legend & Fable (Linked Universe), Legend & Twilight (Linked Universe), Sky/Sun (Linked Universe), Warriors & Wind (Linked Universe), Warriors (Linked Universe) & Shadow Link
Series: Castle Town Coffee Shop [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883869
Comments: 17
Kudos: 55





	Rebirth

**Author's Note:**

> i have literally no words to describe the emotions that i'm experiencing as i'm writing this. it's the very end of a long journey, and i can't even begin to express how thankful i am to those of you who have been following this since the very beginning and have stuck with me through long waits between updates, and those people who leave comments on all of the chapters. you guys have made this small part of my life one of the greatest times of my life, even in 2020, and i can't express in words how thankful i am for your support.
> 
> thank you all so much.

_Two months later…_

After two months, they still hadn’t gotten used to the fame.

The Forester family knew there were going to be people there when they stepped outside of the courthouse, but they didn’t expect _this_ many people. The Sheikah had set up a barricade so that nobody could pass through, making sure it was safe for the six of them to make it to their car. People were crowded around the entire barrier, screaming their names and begging for attention from their favorite heroes.

Legend grabbed Twilight’s hand tightly, and anyone could tell all the attention was making him uncomfortable. “I’m never getting used to this,” he grumbled. “It’s so annoying.”

“Tell me about it,” Twilight replied. “They found my Instagram account, and I get at least twenty DMs a day. It’s the most annoying thing in the world, especially since we were told that we couldn’t turn on follow requests.”

“‘It would look bad to the press,’” Legend mocked, rolling his eyes. “I just want people to stop texting me. That’s it. Did you know someone leaked my phone number?”

“That’s so rude,” Twilight said, keeping pace with the rest of the family once he noticed they were falling behind. “That stuff is supposed to stay private! How did they even get it?”

“Probably one of my old ‘friends’ looking for clout,” Legend said. “I didn’t get along well with very many people.”

Time looked back at them, his patience clearly wearing thin. “I know it’s annoying, but could you two please smile? You look like someone got murdered.”

Legend sighed, forcing himself to smile. “I hate this. Seriously, I hate this more than anything.”

“I’m sorry, boys,” Malon said, her quiet voice barely being heard over all the yelling. “It’ll be over in a few minutes!”

“We’re going to the new house, right?” Wild asked from where he and Hyrule were walking.

Malon smiled. “It’s so exciting!” she said. “We get to start a brand new life!”

“One that’s going to be lived in the spotlight,” Hyrule said quietly. “They’re gonna be watching our every move.”

“It sucks, doesn’t it?” Legend murmured.

They got back to the car without any problems except for a few fans who kept demanding their attention. Once they were alone, Time let out a long sigh, looking back at his sons. “It took us far too long to reach this point,” he said. “But we’re about to start a new life. New family, new home, new world.”

“This is gonna be fun,” Wild said, bouncing up and down in excitement. “I can’t wait to see the house! They moved all the furniture in today, right?”

Malon nodded. “They sent us pictures, and it looks fantastic!”

“Can we see?”

“Not yet, sweetie,” she said. “I want it to be a surprise.”

Just then, Legend’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, swiping to the right when he saw the caller I.D. “It’s Blue.”

_“How did the hearing go?”_ Blue asked, and they could hear a little background noise.

“It was okay,” Legend said, shrugging. “A little nerve-wracking, but it was okay.”

“We got the adoption finalized today,” Hyrule said excitedly. “Oh, goddess, you have no idea how excited we are about this!”

Blue laughed. _“I can guess,”_ he said. _“You’re on your way home now, right?”_

“Yeah, we’ll be there in about fifteen minutes,” Twilight said. “Dad is getting directions right now.”

_“Well, I’ll leave you alone for now. Call me back later!”_

“Talk to you later,” Legend said, hanging up and putting his phone away. It instantly rang again, and he growled, before declining the call and adding the number to his list of blocked contacts. “I really need to get a new phone number.”

They got to their new house in sixteen minutes, all four of the boys rushing inside to see how it looked with furniture. They had seen it empty when they first bought the house, but now, they got to explore it with their furniture.

The boys walked up the stairs, standing in the doorway as they looked at the doors. For once, each of them had their own space. 

Twilight was the first to break off from the group, walking to the very last door. He had claimed the room as his own, even painting it by himself when he wasn’t busy. He had used sunset colors, trying to replicate the twilight skies, and it looked majestic. He had kept most of the furniture from his and Wild’s old room, so there wasn’t much for him to replace, but he put a fresh coat of paint on the appliances to make it look new. 

Legend walked after him, wandering into the room across the hall. He and Hyrule had been able to pick out furniture for their rooms themselves, and Legend had spent a lot of time picking out decorations, paint, and furniture so that it all looked good together. In the end, he settled on dark blue walls, with dark wood furniture and a blue bedspread. For once, he had been able to have his own space, and he was going to take full advantage of it.

Wild was the next to enter his room, relishing the fact that he, too, had his own room. He had spent his entire life sharing a room with Twilight, as they previously hadn’t had enough space for the two of them to have their own. Once he realized that he was going to have his own room, he spent his time obsessing over where he was going to put everything from his side of their old room, getting some new furniture to replace the stuff that had stayed with Twilight and painting his room a light blue.

Hyrule lingered in the hallway for a second, before entering the closest door, the room that he had claimed for himself. It was very strange to him, having his own space, and for a moment, he wondered if he would be able to sleep without Legend being there. He waved away his concerns, reminding himself that Legend was just across the hallway if he needed anything. His room didn’t have as many decorations as the others’ did, a product of him not wanting to waste Time and Malon’s money. The only thing other than the regular furniture that he had was a picture he had taken a week ago. He hung up the photo of the group, smiling at the way he had captured everyone’s personality in a single photo.

They kept looking around the house for hours, all of them overwhelmed at the size of it. The house was bigger than anything they’d ever known, and it felt so much like home already.

They had their first dinner as a real family that night, sharing a meal and making jokes and just being happy as a family. They watched movies until none of them could keep their eyes open anymore, and the boys all went to bed.

Legend walked Hyrule up the stairs, helping his little brother into his room and tucking him into bed. “Good night, ‘Rule,” he whispered. “Sweet dreams. I’m just a few doors away if you need me.”

Hyrule mumbled something quietly, and Legend smiled, walking out of the room and nearly having a heart attack when he saw Twilight standing outside.

“You’re a good big brother,” Twilight mumbled, hands in his pockets. “I feel kinda bad now, since I never did stuff like that for Wild.”

Legend shrugged. “When we were little, I was convinced that I could protect him from anything. You know, like being his knight in shining armor? Did you ever wish you could be something like that?”

“It’s not that fun in reality, is it?”

Legend sighed, trying to stop his hands from shaking. “I still have nightmares about Lurelin,” he whispered. “I can practically _feel_ him, Twilight. Like he’s always watching me, even though we’re supposed to be safe. He’s hiding in the shadows, waiting for a moment to strike and when he does, I’m-”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Twilight said, taking his shaking brother into his arms. “Everything’s gonna be okay, okay? Mom and Dad aren’t gonna let him anywhere near you.”

Legend relaxed in his arms. “He still scares me, though… We all know he isn’t ever gonna stop coming after me.”

“Well, we’re going to keep you safe,” Twilight promised, squeezing him gently and taking his hand. “Mom and Dad aren’t going to let any of the other Children of Demise hurt us or the others again.”

Legend nodded, and the two of them walked to the end of the hallway, pausing in front of the doors to their rooms. “Good night,” they both whispered, walking inside and closing the doors behind them. 

As they drifted off to sleep, both of them contemplated what would have happened if anything different had happened. If Time and Malon hadn’t bought the coffee shop, or decided to hire Legend, Wind, and Blue. If Legend’s mom hadn’t ever found out about the job. If Wind had never been kidnapped. There were so many different outcomes.

And as they looked back, Legend and Twilight knew that if they could start the summer over, they wouldn’t do anything different.

  
  
  


Warrior stood over the grave, flowers clutched tightly in his hands. With trembling fingers, he leaned over and placed them on the ground.

With Artemis, Lana, and Wind’s support, he had demanded that Cia receive a funeral, even if they didn’t have a body to bury. Warrior was willing to do this one last thing for her, if only to honor her role in saving Wind. They never would have been able to do it without her.

Not many people showed up, but they didn’t mind, since they were hoping it would be a smaller event. The four of them said their goodbyes, Artemis and Lana taking the longest to mourn their sister. Wind didn’t say much, only thanking her for saving his life, and Warrior found it hard for himself to say anything at all.

Near the end of the funeral, Wind had confessed that he couldn’t make himself feel upset that she was dead, and Warrior didn’t blame him at all. Even though she had played an integral part in saving him, she had tried to kill Wind just a couple weeks earlier, and had taken Warrior away from him for a long time.

About two weeks after the funeral took place, Warrior found himself back at the cemetery, standing at Cia’s grave again. He hadn’t had the courage to come here for a while now, and just being near it intimidated him.

He sighed, sitting down and tugging at the ends of his scarf. He shouldn’t have come alone. What if someone tried to hurt him, or people came rushing up to him? The media attention had grown to be too much, and Warrior had seen all the posts on social media. Most people appreciated the heroes for what they had done, but some people had taken it to the extreme. 

His phone rang, and he answered the call, hearing Wind’s voice. _“Where are you?”_

“At the cemetery,” he said. “Why do you ask?”

_“Just wanted to let you know that I’m at the hospital with Mom and Dad. I’ll see you later.”_

“Who took you?”

_“...I walked. By myself.”_

Warrior’s mouth fell open, and he almost gasped in shock. “All by yourself?”

_“Uh… yeah, it was pretty intimidating. But I’m getting better at it! I had to walk to the coffee shop this morning, and there were a lot of people watching me, but the more people watching, the better, right? Less of a chance that I’ll get kidnapped again.”_

“I’m really proud of you,” Warrior said, beaming. “You’re recovering really well.”

_“Thanks,”_ Wind said, and Warrior could hear him saying something to someone. He couldn’t make out the words. _“I have to go,”_ he said. _“I’m almost to Mom and Dad’s room. I’ll see you later!”_

“Love you, little bro,” Warrior said as he hung up, stuffing his phone in his pocket. His heart swelled with pride at his brother’s achievement. Ever since getting taken by the Children of Demise, Wind had found it hard to go places on his own, especially walking there by himself. He was worried that someone was going to try and kidnap him again, but the fact that he was starting to go places by himself showed that he was recovering.

He looked down at the grave again, sighing as he tried to remember Cia’s face. He had loved her, a long time ago, but that had faded. He was definitely in a better place now.

Warrior heard footsteps behind him, and he turned around, seeing Shadow standing behind him. “Of all the people, you were the one I least expected to see,” the young teen remarked. “Who are you here for? Dead pet?”

“Cia,” Warrior whispered, looking back down at her grave once more. It was so hard to believe she was gone.

Shadow’s eyes widened, before he shrugged. “After everything, you can still stand being around her?”

“I was the one who wanted a funeral.”

Shadow looked at the grave, sighing. “I guess you and I are kind of alike, then.”

“Huh?”

Shadow motioned for Warrior to follow him, walking to another grave that was across the graveyard. It was unmarked, and there was no way of telling who it belonged to.

“I wanted them to hold a funeral for my father, too,” he said quietly, kicking at stones in the path. “Of course, I was the only one to show up, but… it still meant a lot.”

Warrior was silent for a moment, before saying, “He must have meant a lot to you, huh?”

“I loved him,” Shadow said quietly, and Warrior could see that he was trying hard not to cry. “I mean, up until everything with the Children of Demise, he was the best dad ever. He baked cookies with me, and we watched movies together, and whenever I was sad, he would give me a hug and tell me to tell him why I was so upset. He listened to me whenever I talked about how madly in love I was, and about my grades, and about things I liked. It really seemed like he loved me as much as I loved him.”

“But he didn’t, did he?”

Shadow laughed bitterly. “He saw me as a means to an end,” he said. “You know, he was originally going to sacrifice me, until he saw some sort of potential in me or something, I don’t know. I don’t know what he was thinking when he did anything that he did. What compelled him to start a cult, to hurt his only son, to do all these horrible things? I don’t get it. And I still can’t help but feel horrible for what I did, because he was always such a good father, and I killed him. Not Time, not anyone else. _I_ stabbed him in the heart. And I still don’t regret it.”

“One less bad person in the world,” Warrior murmured, but Shadow let out a long sigh.

“One less bad person, but I was the one who killed him. What does that make me?”

They stood in silence for a moment, the only noise being cars whizzing down the street and the wind screaming as it blew through the trees.

“I’ve been studying the legends recently,” Shadow said, his voice quiet. “Mostly the legend of the Hero of the Four Sword. I wanted to impress Vio with how much I knew, but I came across some things that I really didn’t want to see.”

“What happened?”

“...You remember how Time mentioned that we were all reincarnations of the ancient heroes? How each of us were some hero from history?”

“Yeah, why?”

“They were the Hero of the _Four_ Sword,” Shadow said. “There were only four of them. Red, green, blue, and violet.”

“Okay, so? You’ve more than proved your worth, Shadow.”

“That’s not the important part,” he said, his voice cracking. “I existed back then, but I was on the dark side. I was a servant of Ganon. I was evil, a long time ago.

“And that’s not the worst of it, either,” Shadow continued. “Vio and I were together back then, too… but I forced him to do terrible things, things I wouldn’t ever do today… I tried to make him kill his brother, Warrior. He and Green are so close. How could I make him do something like that?”

Warrior placed a hand on Shadow’s shoulder. “Do you know how that story ends, though?”

“...I couldn’t bring myself to finish it.”

“It ended with the shadow sacrificing himself to save all of the heroes,” Warrior said, patting him on the back. “He found his way to the light, just like you.”

“But I did all those terrible things, too…”

“We are not our ancestors,” Warrior said, looking up to the sky. “The Hero of Warriors killed a bunch of people. The Hero of Legend destroyed an entire island full of people, even if it was just a dream. The Hero of Time completely screwed up time. But Legend, Time, and I haven’t done anything like that.”

Shadow nodded, looking back down at the unmarked grave. He didn’t say a word.

“And you know what makes you better than your past self, Shadow?”

“Huh?”

“He needed help to find his way to the light,” he said, smiling down at the younger hero. “You did it all on your own.”

Just then, Warrior’s phone rang, and he checked it. “It’s Wind,” he said. “I have to go. See you around.”

“See you later,” Shadow said, still looking at his father’s grave. But there was a certain light in his eyes, one that Warrior hadn’t noticed before. 

He looked… content.

Warrior jogged out of the cemetery, answering the phone. “What’s up?”

_“Wars, you need to get to the hospital now!”_

Panic struck him in the heart. “What’s going on?”

_“I don’t have time to explain! Just get here now!”_

The phone beeped, and Warrior stuck it in his pocket, running in the direction of the hospital.

Goddess, he hoped his family was okay.

  
  


Wind walked into the hospital room, nearly shaking with panic. He knew his fear was irrational, but knowing that it was dumb wasn’t gonna stop him from being scared.

He sat down in the chair next to the beds, trying to take deep breaths and calm himself down. Once he was breathing normally again, he scooted up, taking his mother’s hand.

“Good afternoon, Mom,” he said, trying to sound enthusiastic. “I walked here all by myself today! Are you proud of me? I usually get Artemis or Warrior or Twilight or someone else to take me, but I made it here on my own! I’m really happy about that.”

He could feel her squeezing his hand, and Wind smiled. “It really took a lot out of me,” he said, sighing. “I almost freaked out when I ran into someone while coming. It was scary.”

Another squeeze.

Wind sighed. “Warrior is doing pretty well, I guess,” he said. “He isn’t taking Cia’s death well. He wanted to have a funeral for her, and there were only a few of us there. I’m sorry that she’s dead, but not as sorry as I could be, and that makes me feel really bad.”

Something burned in his chest, and he could feel his eyes growing wet. “And I wanna feel sorry, but I just can’t bring myself to, because even though she helped save me, she tried to kill me too and did so many other terrible things. I don’t know how to feel.”

Tears were falling down his face now, and he used his sleeve to wipe off the streaks of water running down his face. “And I keep having these terrible dreams of when I was kidnapped, and of the Battle of Lurelin, and there are so many people out there who are idolizing _me,_ saying that they love us and everything we stand for, but would they say the same if they saw what happened that day? Would they say that if they saw us killing them? I _killed_ someone, Mom. And Sky told me that he was the one who dealt the finishing blow, but I still stabbed someone in the chest. I hate it. I _hate_ being like this. I just wanna go back to normal.”

Wind sighed. “But nothing’s ever gonna be normal again, is it?” he said. “I’m not the same person that I was at the beginning of the summer. Heck, I’m not even the same person that I was just a month ago! I don’t even know who I am anymore! Am I a hero, or a high school student, or a boyfriend, or someone’s idol, or just a kid? Actually, scratch that. I don’t think I’m a kid anymore.

“And I know what you and Dad and Wars and Artemis would say, that since I’m not legally an adult, I’m still a kid. And you’re all right about that. But I’m a lot more mature than I should be, I think. Malon once described it as being wise beyond my years.”

His mom squeezed his hand again, and Wind squeezed back. “I’m sorry for dumping all of this on you,” he said. “I just… I don’t really have a good output for this stuff. I’ve contemplated going to Time or Malon, but they both have their own trauma, and they’re too busy with the kids to have time for me. Everyone else is dealing with their own stuff, and I… I just feel like my problems aren’t as bad in comparison.”

He shut his eyes, feeling tears drip down onto the sheets. “I wish that I could go back,” he said, “but I don’t know what I would do differently. Maybe I could just try again? I wish there was a way I could start over.”

He let go of her hand, hugging himself tightly. “I wish you were here, Mom,” he murmured. “You always knew what to do.”

Wind felt something on his cheeks, wiping away his tears, and he opened his eyes in shock.

His mother was staring up at him, a content look on her face. Her eyes were open, filled with love and patience, and she held her hand out, taking Wind’s hand and holding it tightly. “Good morning, sweetie.”

Wind gasped, tears filling his eyes again. “You’re…”

She lifted her other hand, threading her fingers through his hair. “It’s good to see your face.”

He heard a groan coming from the other bed, and he gasped, turning around and seeing his father slowly waking up.

“You’re awake,” Wind cried, hands covering his mouth in shock. “Oh, Hylia…”

He ran out into the hallway, yelling for a doctor. Someone came in instantly, brushing past Wind and checking on his parents, but he was too emotional to notice. He barely managed to pull out his phone, calling Warrior and saying _something;_ he could barely tell what he was saying. He just hoped he got the message across.

Warrior was there within minutes, right after the doctors left to give them a little time together. He was frantic, clearly worried, and Wind pulled him into the room, hearing him gasp in shock as he saw their parents, alive and awake.

“Stuff’s finally getting back to normal,” Wind whispered, taking his hand and holding him tightly. “Let’s hope it stays this way.”

  
  
  


Blue finished unpacking the last box in the apartment, wiping a hand across his forehead. His arm came back drenched in sweat, and he laid down on the couch, letting out a long sigh. Malon and Time had let them move into the apartment above the shop so that they would have more room. It was nice of them to help, but they had to move all the furniture in by themselves, and Vio and Shadow conveniently weren’t around to help.

“That took hours,” Green complained, sitting down on the floor next to him and breathing heavily. “Are we done yet?”

“We have to move the furniture around in your rooms,” Blue said, sighing. “Million dollar question right here: we have three bedrooms. I get the master bedroom, so what do we do? You and Red in one room, Vio and Shadow in the other? Or is that a bad idea, and we should do you and Vio in one, and Shadow and Red in the other. Maybe Shadow can sleep on the couch.”

“He’s not sleeping on the couch,” Green said, looking over to Red. “Red, who do you wanna stay with? Me or Shadow?”

Red wrapped his arms around Green, grinning. “I wanna stay with Green!”

“Yeah, but is it a good idea to leave Vio and Shadow alone together?” Blue raised his eyebrows, chuckling.

“Oh my goddess, Blue,” Green groaned, smacking his brother. “They aren’t gonna do anything like that! That’s disgusting!”

Blue snickered. “Well, I’m gonna need your help moving furniture.”

Green sighed in frustration, standing up and stretching. “You’re either paying me or getting me fast food later.”

“I don’t have to do anything for you.”

Green rolled his eyes, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s just get this over with,” he said. “Red? Wanna help?”

“Nope!”

“Rude,” Green scoffed, grabbing Blue and pulling him off the couch. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“What if we wanna paint?” Red asked.

“We can do it some other time,” Blue said, glaring at Green. “If you want to change the paint that badly, you can do it yourself.”

Several grueling hours later, Green and Blue were both about to pass out. “This all would have been a lot easier with Vio and Shadow,” Blue grumbled. “Where were they?”

“I know Shadow was at the cemetery all day,” Green said. “Visiting his dad, I think. Vio was doing volunteer work for college applications.”

“He’s not even old enough to apply to college! He’s in tenth grade!”

“When did you start applying for college?”

“Here’s the thing, I didn’t.”

“Can we go get food?” Red asked, bouncing on his mattress. “I’m hungry!”

“Just give me a few minutes to shower,” Blue said, standing up and stretching. He winced as something popped. “Where do you wanna go?”

“Some new place opened a week ago,” Green said. “I don’t remember what it was called, but it looks nice. Just down the street, I think.”

Blue nodded, quickly exiting the room and going to his own. Green stayed next to Red, who had briefly calmed down and was laying on the bed.

“Green?” Red said, looking over at him. “You look sad. What’s wrong?”

Green pursed his lips, sighing. “I just miss the way things used to be.”

He missed being able to freely roam the city, without cameras and people following his every move. He missed being able to fall asleep without horrible images invading his brain every time he closed his eyes. He missed being a kid, and being carefree and not worrying about anything.

He missed Mama and Papa.

But if that fateful car crash hadn’t happened, he wouldn’t be here today. He wouldn’t be as close to his friends as he was now. He wouldn’t have met Dot, that day in the library. He wouldn’t have grown so close to Blue.

Maybe some good could come out of the worst things in life.

Red walked over, getting onto Green’s bed and laying down next to him. “I miss Mommy,” he said. “She was always really good at comforting me after nightmares.”

Green’s throat constricted, and he wondered how she would react to him telling her about his latest dreams. He missed her more and more every day. Dot and Blue were always willing to listen to his ramblings, but they didn’t have the kind of attention that Mama had. 

Red wrapped his arms around him. “But we have Blue now,” he whispered. “Blue, and Time, and Malon, and everyone else. We’re not alone anymore.”

Tears pricked at Green’s eyes, and he hugged his little brother tightly. “We’ve all grown up a little bit, huh?”

Just then, Blue walked back in, looking much fresher than he had a few minutes before. When he saw that they were crying, he pressed his lips together, sitting down next to them. “What’s wrong?”

“I miss Mama,” Green said, the words rushing out of his mouth. “I just want things to go back to the way we were.”

Blue sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I want them back, too.”

Green grabbed Blue’s other hand, holding onto him tightly. “It’s been two years, and it isn’t any easier to deal with,” he whispered. “Why does it still hurt so bad?”

“It’s always going to hurt,” Blue replied. “But we’ll heal eventually. It’ll hurt less.” He stood up, looking at his brothers. “Vio and Shadow are meeting us for dinner. Are you ready to go?”

Green sat up, standing up and holding his hand out to Red. “Ready to go?”

Red stood up, his normal enthusiasm somewhat dampened. “Do… do you think we could visit Mommy and Daddy soon?”

“Of course,” Blue said. “I’ve been meaning to visit lately.”

They walked out of the apartment and out of the store, meeting Vio and Shadow out in front of the restaurant. They ate a good meal, sharing jokes and laughter, and having fun as a family. Blue paid for the food, and they walked around the city for a bit, going for ice cream and not paying attention to the cameras on them for once.

They ended the night at the cemetery, standing in front of their parents’ graves. It was an emotional moment for all of them, even Shadow, who had just recently joined the family.

After a few moments of mourning, they went back to the apartment, where the boys made their beds before coming back into the living room. The five of them watched movies and TV shows together, giving each of them a chance to pick a movie. They were all asleep by three in the morning, the only exception being Blue. He took them all into their rooms one by one, tucking them in and wishing them sweet dreams.

As he turned off the lights, he realized that he had forgotten to unpack one thing. He saw the package on the table, unpacking the picture and hanging it on the wall.

It was a photo of the five of them, taken right after Shadow had joined them.

And as Blue saw the faint light in the room reflecting off of their faces, he smiled. Though the world had tried to tear them apart, they came back together, just like always.

  
  
  


Legend got out of the car, waving goodbye to Warrior as he entered the park. Fable was standing at the entrance of the maze, an unreadable expression on her face. “Took you long enough to show up,” she said.

Legend sighed. “Can we have this conversation somewhere else?”

“I’m tired of you changing the subject, Legend. What is going on with you?”

“Somewhere more private,” he said, looking around. People had started to take notice of his presence. “Please, Fable. I don’t want anyone else hearing this.”

“Why not?” His friend’s lip curled up in disgust. “You don’t want people knowing you’re friends with me?”

“No, I just don’t want you to have to deal with the media attention I’m getting,” Legend argued. “As soon as one picture of us gets out, it’s gonna be all over the internet. There’s gonna be people commenting on the way you look, and they’ll think I’m cheating on my girlfriend, and they’ll find out who you are and ruin your life. I’m trying to _protect_ you.”

“And where do you think we’re gonna get privacy?” she scoffed.

“In the maze. There’s a place in the center that’s pretty quiet.”

Fable rolled her eyes, and they walked through the maze in silence, eventually arriving at the small courtyard. 

Legend laid down on the ground, looking up at the cover of trees that blocked the view of the sky and filtered the sunlight that reached the ground. Fable laid down next to him, sighing. “What’s been going on with you?” she asked. “Why haven’t you answered any of our calls or texts lately? You didn’t come to the cast party, and you’ve just been plain ignoring us. We’ve grown apart, Legend. What did we do wrong?”

“You haven’t done anything,” he said, sighing. “I’m sorry, Fable. I’ve been a terrible friend.”

“It all started when you met your soulmate, I think,” she said. “That’s when you stopped spending time with us.”

“Really, I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

“Well, you did,” she said, and Legend winced at the hurt in her voice. “We missed you. And I know your mom was always strict about curfew, but that’s not what’s been holding you back, is it?” 

Legend clenched his fists. “Actually, I don’t live with my mom anymore.”

“That’s right,” Fable said. “Your adoption was all over the news. Why were you adopted? You had living family members.”

Legend suddenly found it hard to speak. “I… My mom wasn’t the nicest, let’s put it that way. She, um…”

“Oh,” Fable said, her voice suddenly quiet. “She was… abusive, wasn’t she?”

Legend nodded, shutting his eyes tight. “You remember my sixteenth birthday?” Even thinking about the event made him want to cry.

“Yeah… you left so suddenly. Ravio and Hilda decided to stay the night, and we called you a bunch of times, but your phone went straight to voicemail.”

“I missed curfew by two hours,” he said. “As a punishment, she…” He could feel his cheeks growing wet. “Oh, goddesses…”

Fable reached out, holding his hand.

“S-she made me hit my brother,” Legend said, his voice nearly a whisper. “Goddess, I still remember every detail… he begged me not to, because I had promised that I wouldn’t ever hurt him but I was breaking that promise and Hyrule was screaming and she forced me to keep going, even when we both were about to pass out and he was begging me to stop because he was hurting. I did that to him, Fable. I broke the only promise I ever meant to keep.”

“...Legend, I’m so sorry. If I had known...”

“There’s no changing the past,” he said. “But it was the worst night of my life. I can’t celebrate my birthday anymore, did you know that? That’s why I asked you guys not to do anything big last year. I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.”

“I’m so, so sorry,” she whispered. “Oh, Legend…”

“Did you ever see me wearing more makeup than normal?” he asked. “That was nights or days when she was especially bad. I didn’t want anyone to know. I managed to deal with it for seventeen years, and I was just waiting to get out of there and take custody of Hyrule. Of course, that didn’t play out the way I was expecting, and now I live with my adopted parents and siblings.”

“I’m sorry,” Fable said again. “Seriously, I should have noticed something was wrong.”

“It isn’t your fault,” Legend said, sighing. “Fable, I want to fix our relationship. I hate being at odds like this.”

“I want to fix this, too,” she said, looking over at him. “Tell you what: Ravio, Hilda, and I are going to the movies tomorrow. Bring your girlfriend and Hyrule. We’ll have a great time.”

“Sure, but only if I can bring another friend of mine.”

“Sure, sure, I just want to spend time with you,” Fable said, squeezing Legend’s hand. “I’m glad we had this talk.”

“So am I,” Legend said, sighing. He sat up, stretching and holding out a hand. “Let’s get going. We have a friendship to fix.”

Fable grinned. “I bet I can get out of the maze first.”

“Oh, you’re _on.”_

The first day of school came quickly for the boys, and it was certainly a shock to see everyone for the first time in several months. Everyone was watching them, paying attention to every movement, because they were famous. Who wouldn’t be impressed by them?

They all tried to go about their lives as normal, sticking together as much as they could, and eventually, everyone started to treat them normally again. Legend introduced Warrior, Twilight, and Marin to Fable, Ravio, and Hilda, and the seven of them instantly became some of the most popular students in school. 

Tetra introduced Wind to some of the other classmates, and he made plenty of friends. For once, he had a group of people to hang out with. They wouldn’t ever replace his friends from Outset Island, but he was meeting new people. It was certainly a start.

Green, Vio, Shadow, Hyrule, and Wild stuck together, since most of them had classes together. They met Green’s soulmate, Dot, and she introduced them to some of her friends. The five of them quickly became the most popular students in their grade—after all, being a group composed solely of heroes would definitely earn them some popularity points.

Sky and Sun got married a couple weeks after they started school. It was a small wedding, with only Sun’s family, Sky’s friend Groose, and the rest of the heroes in attendance. Sun’s younger cousin had fallen ill right before the event, so Wind got the chance to be the flower boy. 

That night, under the full moon, they all made a wish together, hoping that the goddesses would grant it.

They wished for a future for themselves, and for their home.

They wished for healing, to fix what had been broken and heal what had been hurt.

They wished for a future for the families that they had yet to build, for love and support and happiness.

But most importantly, they realized that they weren’t finished yet. Even if they defeated all of the Children of Demise, somewhere down the line, they would return. Their descendants would be the one to destroy them someday, that much was obvious. 

So the heroes wished one last time, for a chance to continue the cycle. 

They wished for a second chance, to fix their mistakes in the future.

They wished for a chance at rebirth.

**Author's Note:**

> once again, thank all of you for reading all of this! surprisingly, i've realized that i've literally written the 5th longest fic in the fandom (as of december 26, 2020)! thanks so much for supporting me as i unknowingly wrote a novel <3 i love you guys so much!


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